Bryan Stewart, a.k.a. "Rick Valentini," was in Maricopa County Superior Court this morning where he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the presumed murder of his ex-girlfriend Jamie Laiaddee.
Laiddee's body was never found, but while Stewart was in police custody, he was heard telling other inmates that he disposed of her body in a way that police would never find it (at one point, Stewart claimed he fed her body to pigs. More on that below).
In addition to the 22 years for the murder, Stewart was sentenced yesterday to 32 years in prison for other crimes related to the murder -- he got 20 years on fraud scheme charges and 12 years for fraud and weapons charges.
Laiaddee was last seen by Stewart on March 18, 2010, outside of her Chandler home.
Laiaddee's estranged father, who lives in California, called police
after speaking to Stewart, who told him he hadn't seen her in about 10
weeks.
Stewart was questioned by police and told them the two
broke up the day before she was last seen -- right after she said she
was moving to Denver to find a new job.
Stewart, however, was
an obvious person of interest in her disappearance -- and when he was
caught driving her car after she was reported missing, it certainly
didn't help change his status.
Shortly after Laiaddee was
reported missing, he was stopped by Scottsdale police for an unrelated
traffic warrant. The car he was driving belonged to his missing
ex-girlfriend, and credit cards he was using were determined to belong
to her, too.
According to the police report, while in police custody, Stewart told
fellow inmates that he shot Laiaddee with a sawed-off shotgun. He told
the men he got rid of her body in a way police would never find her.
At first, Stewart said her body had been "fed to the pigs." He then changed his story, saying she'd been cut up and put into bags.
